Vince Gill Earned New Fans During His First Time on the Radio

Vince Gill began his career as a solo artist in 1983. In 1989, he recorded his breakthrough hit, "When I Call Your Name," which became a No. 1, multi-award-winning song in 1990. But before the awards began piling up, when nobody knew his name, where was the talented tunesmith and guitar player when he heard one of his songs on the radio for the very first time?

I was on I-40, just a few miles west of downtown Oklahoma City. I'll never forget it. I can drive you right to the spot!

I made a local record with a band I was in, and they played it on the radio station there in Oklahoma City. It was a John Stewart song called "July, You're a Woman." I had a CB [radio] in my truck. It's playing, and I'm on the CB going, "Hey, everybody! They're playing my song on the radio!" And these truck drivers were coming back -- I told them what channel -- "Play that again!"

That would have been about 1974 ... What's interesting is, even still, if I'm in the car and one of my songs plays, I'll stay in the car 'til it's over! [Laughs]

It was the neatest experience up to that point. Even still, it feels the same. It's equally as amazing.

This story was originally written by Pat Gallagher, and revised by Angela Stefano.